S03:E10 - Keep Calm and Flutter On

[cmarston1 5,959]

I really enjoyed this episode.

It was great to see Discord again and this was probably the least rushed character redemption anyone has had in the series.

Plus Fluttershy was great here.

[twiia 1,843]

*rolls eyes* yeah, friendship is magic. We know that. 

 

Personally, I thought Discord didn't really need to be reformed, and it was a bit... cringey at times.

[Moony the Cat 3,702]

It might be a little bit unbelievable, that Discord gets reformed in just one Episode, because all he ever wanted, was a friend...but still, i liked Discord during this Episode more, than i did in the Two Parter Episode, that introduced him. Because his first 2 Episodes made me leave the Show, because i found him boring, but now im fine and i even want to watch more of Fim, so that is an improvement. XD

[Thrond 3,263]

It's not that Discord always wanted friendship. He never knew it, and never thought he needed it. But having friends is, y'know, pretty good, so once he had experienced that, it started to actually mean something to him. This doesn't mean he's a good person, but if the mission is to coerce him into being a bit less awful, then Fluttershy's approach works. She took a gamble, and it paid off, and this is one of her best appearances ever. Her assertiveness here is almost like a precursor to her characterization post-"Flutter Brutter," and I like it for exactly the same reasons I liked it there: she's not willing to be walked all over, and is willing to stand up for herself when the time is right, but is also still a sweet and empathetic pony at heart, and wants the best for even people she doesn't like. 

As is to be expected, Discord's mere presence adds a lot of humour here, and while I wish Fluttershy's friends were less standoffish, that does play into the general narrative arc where they need to learn what's going on, that a person won't change if you don't give them a chance to. It's a strong moral, if slightly naive, but I think the utilitarian context - making Discord slightly less awful because he might become useful later - helps, as does Fluttershy's realization that Discord isn't just gonna become totally personable overnight.

Through my otherwise disappointing revisit of season 3, I'm glad this one still holds up, because next I have two of my least favourite episodes ever. 

Score:

Entertainment: 9/10

Characters: 8/10

Story: 9/10

Themes: 9/10

Overall: 88/100

[Hierok 11,831]

On 11-1-2018 at 7:41 PM, Dune_Gosbil said:

It might be a little bit unbelievable, that Discord gets reformed in just one Episode, because all he ever wanted, was a friend...but still, i liked Discord during this Episode more, than i did in the Two Parter Episode, that introduced him. Because his first 2 Episodes made me leave the Show, because i found him boring, but now im fine and i even want to watch more of Fim, so that is an improvement. XD

I think it would be best to skip this episode and make Magical Mystery Cure a two parter where Discord was the cause of the cutiemarks changing. 

[bigbertha 414]

The only reason I like this episode is because it's funny. Discord's reformation is really bad. Through most of the episode, he plays Fluttershy for a fool, and the moment where he starts to see her as a friend is not built up at all. It comes out of nowhere. Nowhere in the episode before the dinner party scene do we see Discord warming up to Fluttershy or anything. Since the entire episode is about Discord reforming, this is a big problem. Evil Discord is funny, but more time should've been put towards him slowly starting to like Fluttershy.

Score: -5/10

Edited August 15, 2018 by bigbertha

[Meushell 52]

I wasn’t sure what to say about this one as I found it kind of boring. I do like Discord realizing he enjoys having a friend.

I wonder what Fluttershy’s promise was really worth though. Discord could easily make life unbearable. Surly, she’d have broken it (though the deal was already broken by him anyway), if he didn’t reform. 

[qwerE 96]

Wasn't too bad! Discord becoming friendly did feel a bit abrupt, but otherwise really funny. But I don't think the moral actually works in real life. Some people are just not meant to be together, whether they are good or not. However, it was really nice of Fluttershy to give him a chance whatsoever.

[bigbertha 414]

I enjoy the idea of this episode. It could've been a nice message about how not everyone can be changed. And most of the episode seems like it's supporting that. Discord is playing Fluttershy for a fool for a vast majority of the episode. Even after his epiphany at the dinner party, his actions at the dam make it very obvious that even that was fake. It would've been great if Fluttershy learned that Discord couldn't be reformed. 

Or alternatively the episode could've had Discord progressively warm up to Fluttershy. There could've been a scene where he tries to convince himself that he doesn't like Fluttershy but ends up admitting that he's starting to like her. And then the climax of the episode would make sense. 

But the episode tries to meld the two approaches which doesn't work since they don't work together. Most of the episode is about how Discord is taking advantage of Fluttershy, but it tries to have this moment with Discord at the dinner party warming up to Fluttershy, but it comes off as disingenuous when everything beforehand was Discord taking advantage of Fluttershy. Instead of focussing on one approach and executing it well, it blends the two together leading to neither of them working. 

It's a shame since a lot of the episode is entertaining. Discord brings a lot of fun to the episode and the jokes in general are pretty funny.

Score: 4/10

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,594]

This is an episode that I initially didn't care for at first and have come to appreciate more upon rewatch. 

[Octavian 5,420]

Celestia is such a troll in this ep with her royal summit

<3 the way she encourages Flutters at the start though :3

[Octavian 5,420]

also this  

 

 

also also, when I first watched this ep all I could think about was Discord. This is THE flutter ep for assertive shy. Love her in this.

[Neoeryn 196]

If I'm correct, this is the episode that started the whole Fluttercord thing right? And introduced us to Discord as more than just a grumpy old man villain? Dear goodness I hope this is the episode I'm thinking about.
If so, this was the episode that got my brother into MLP, and got me into the show a bit more as well. It was the first episode my brother had watched, and he became literally so obsessed with Discord, and eventually, even I ended up growing obsessed due to it.

My honest opinion on the episode may be a bit biased, as it was the episode that interested me. I absolutely love seeing Discord portrayed the way he was. He was written to be more than just a villain. He was written as a character who may have had a hard time struggling with using his powers for his own entertainment -at the potential harm of others- but after taking notice of how much Fluttershy had believed he could change, something nopony has before, he realized that using his power for the reasons that he wanted wouldn't actually get him what he wanted, which was someone who believed in him/wanted to be his friend.

Maybe I'm looking into that too much?? I have this blessed curse where I can somehow dig into a redeemed/villain's soul and possibly find out their deepest and darkest secrets/desires.

[Will Guide 21,360]

1 hour ago, Neoeryn said:

Maybe I'm looking into that too much?? I have this blessed curse where I can somehow dig into a redeemed/villain's soul and possibly find out their deepest and darkest secrets/desires.

While some characters can be irredeemable, I do like looking for villains that be reformed in their own ways. Iago was the Disney character that taught preschool me back in the 90s how some bad people can have the capacity to reform and take a turn for the better.

[Astralshy 26,479]

Fluttershy taiming and befriending Discord? I'm on board!

I have never seen Discord as a villain but an antagonist even not in season 2 premiere. You can put many adjectives here like selfish but I think his biggest problem is that he's so blinded by his own power that he doesn't value anything else anymore. So the basic idea is really great and made sense to me. You could even say I was hopping for it.

What one can criticize here would be Celestia putting her idea in front of the mane six and then leaving them alone and of how this episode resolves suddenly the plotline to come to a good ending. I wrote one not me, because the story is about those six and not Celestia and the runtime of one episode is 20 minutes. It would haven been completely possible to divide this episode in multiple parts  and make a more complex and better story. I agree, but MLP FiM has also some bounds and season three had only time for 13 episodes. Yes I can see these points too, but I don't think it makes much sense to critice the show for something it could never do because they creators had also bounds which they had to stay in. Or maybe I'm used to biased here.

What remains for me is the start of the befriending of Discord. I write start because it's not finished with this episode. This is a plotline which goes through the whole show to its very ending with some big point in the finale of season 4.

So I really think this is a good episode which starts one great plotline in the series. It has also quite some funny moments but yes this episode resolves a little too quickly at the end. But still I like very much

[The Nth Doctor 662]

Knowing where Discord's character goes makes this painful to rewatch, and I hate that everyone but Fluttershy are portrayed as being in the wrong for not giving Discord a chance when he given them zero reasons to offer him a chance in the first place

Some people are simply pricks through and through, and I hate that Fluttershy was made into the very thing she says she wasn't for the sake of the plot

[Cash In 22,266]

Reforming Discord was an interesting choice, but I guess the more negative aspects of that decision in S4 and onwards have made it a bit difficult for me to look at this episode the same.

I feel like this one moves a bit too fast. I get that the reform supposed to be more of a slow thing throughout the show, but I think this is something that should've been saved for a two-part episode.

In terms of postives, Discord is great. As usual, he steals the show in every scene he's in. :p

[Hadrien 950]

Like almost everyone, I think this episode is good in concept, but the execution is *weak*. Like yeah at some point it would make sense to get Discord on your side, he is an all powerful force of nature, but he gets converted in the span of one afternoon, please. Flutters is good, but not that good.

Discord is always a welcome sight in any episode, his antics are just too good. Especially when he tries to get under Twilight's and the other's skin, it's so funny to me.

Overall, not a bad episode, kind of a hit and miss. 6.5+1, bonus points for Discord of course.

[Hazel Sparks 18]

Discord is the absolute best. Really the best. Every scene... he's awesome.

[Antiyonder 1,129]

YouTube upload of the episode: